Saab Australia news – Taste of Sydney, MIMS and Turbofest

The Melbourne International Motor Show for 2009 opens to the public on Friday, February 27. Saab will be there showing the 2009 Saab range complete with XWD models that you couldn’t get in 2008. Problem? Apparently you can’t get them in 2009 at the moment, either. Spies tell me that Saab Oz are holding up ordering for 2009 models and still holding up models that have already landed in Australia until 2008 stocks are cleared out. I first heard about this back in early January and apparently it’s still going on. —— Late 2008 was the year of secret Saab sales offers here in Australia. First there was a massive owner loyalty bonus that was never publicised. Saab dealers did al the publicity for that offer by phone to existing customers. Then we had Turbofest, which started back in October and is still going now but there are still no actual bonuses that are included in the campaign listed on the offer’s web page. I do note, however, that Turbofest ends this week. —— Saab Australia will sponsor the inaugural 2009 Taste of Sydney event, a big food festival to be held mid-March in Sydney’s Centennial Park.

Saab is delighted to help bring the first Taste Festival to Sydney in March 2009. This special event offers the most tantalising cuisine that the city and surrounding region has to offer. For starters, Sydney’s top restaurants will create exquisite signature dishes in sample size portions and over 100 fine food and drink exhibitors will offer their best produce. To whet your appetite even further, the appropriately named Saffron Yellow 9-3 turbo convertible will be on display throughout the festival. Additional highlights include the Chef’s Theatre, Wine Tasting Theatre, Meet the Chefs and James Squire Beer Masterclass.

Should be alright if you’re into that food-is-art type of thing. I imagine all the BBC boys will go and get their fill. —— And speaking of BBC meetings, any chance of one in April? I’ll be up there the weekend of April 18. Friday 17th, perhaps? —— ADDED ITEM(s) Apparently the Turbofest discount is massive, too. I’m apprehensive about mentioning exactly how big here, but if you’re an Aussie and you’re in the market, it’s worth checking things out with your Saab dealer. I’ve just heard from Hawkeye in Sydney that another dealer has dumped Saab in Sydney. McGrath Sutherland have just shut up shop on their Saab range, but have one car left – an $84,000 9-3 Aero sedan, in BLACK, with just 800km on the clock, which they’re selling for $59,000. Hawkeye heard from the dealer that if you walk in with a $50,000 cheque then you’d be a very good chance of driving away in it. That’s the sort of discount they’re doing as part of Turbofest. Maybe somewhere in between there is where the pricing should be all the time? —— Saab Australia have just announced an expansion to their BioPower and Diesel offerings to coincide with the Melbourne Motor Show. In short, BioPower will now be available across the full Saab model range in Australia, and the TTiD engine will be available across the entire 9-3 range (rather than being just an Aero). Here’s the full press release.Saab Extends Flex-Fuel BioPower and Two-Stage Diesel Across the Range Saab Australia will become the first car manufacturer in Australia to offer its full model range as E85 capable from mid this year. The announcement further enhances Saab’s flex-fuel industry leadership position and means that all new Saabs will offer a flex-fuel/petrol engine as standard.

Saab Australia became the first car maker to produce a renewable, ethanol-powered car for the Australian market and continues to be the only brand in Australia offering vehicles that run on E85#- a mix of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol – or petrol, in any combination, from one fuel tank. Saab BioPower combines turbocharging with the use of E85 fuel to deliver increased engine power and improved performance, as well as reduced CO2 emissions, and is available in 9-5 and 9-3 vehicles in Sport Sedan, SportCombi and the iconic Saab Convertible body styles. Driving on E85 can reduce emissions because the plants used to make E85 help to absorb CO2 in the atmosphere. In Australia, CSR produces E85 with less than half the CO2 emissions of petrol^. The 2.0t BioPower engine delivers peak power of 147kW* and 300Nm* of maximum torque on E85. Running on E85 the BioPower 2.0t engine produces at least an additional 18kW* (147kW vs 129kW*) and an extra 35Nm* of torque (300Nm vs 265Nm*) compared to running on regular unleaded petrol. Saab BioPower is part of the broader Saab environmental strategy EcoPower, which combines the enjoyment of a dynamic driving experience with the efficient use of resources to achieve responsible performance. The EcoPower strategy blends turbocharging, engine rightsizing, Saab BioPower, aerodynamic performance and weight-saving design. A key element of the EcoPower engine rightsizing strategy is the efficient and powerful 9-3 Aero TTiD which is now available across the 9-3 model range. Boasting a unique two-stage turbocharging system, which was a world ‘first’ in the premium car segment, the 1.9-litre, 16-valve two-stage turbo engine is matched to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The responsible performer delivers a sporty drive with 132kW* and 400Nm* of maximum torque, in gear performance similar to the 9-3 petrol Aero and an impressive combined 5.7 litres per 100km for the manual Sport Sedan model. “With Saab BioPower -the first vehicle to run on E85 in Australia, combined with a powerful and economical diesel – Saab really does deliver on our promise of performance with responsibility” said Director of GM Premium Brands, Parveen Batish. The performance and economy of the Aero TTiD is among the best in its class, the Saab TTiD engine meets a growing demand from drivers unwilling to sacrifice performance in the interests of fuel economy. Another example of Saab’s advanced technology initiatives are the recently released 9-3X and 9-3 diesel models in Europe which now also offer reduced CO2 emissions and improved fuel consumption. European manual Linear and Vector specification Sport Sedans, powered by the 150 hp/110 kW, single turbo or the 180 hp/132 kW, two-stage turbo 1.9-liter engine, can now produce just 139 gm/km CO2 and impressive fuel consumption of 5.3 l/100 km over the combined cycle. The SportCombi’s figures are also improved to 144 gm/km and 5.5 l/100 km. In terms of CO2 grams per horsepower, the two-stage turbo models (badged 1.9TTiD) are now among the top performers in their class. To continue Saab’s efforts to build awareness for the importance of alternative fuels, Saab has provided a BioPower 9-3 Sport Sedan to the Department of Tourism, Industry and Regional Development in Queensland to use as a promotional vehicle for a 12 month period. To date – the vehicle was a feature of Greenfest, Australia’s largest free green festival, in October 2008 which had over 35,000 in attendance over three days. Promoting ethanol blended fuels and environmentally friendly vehicles, Saab and the Queensland Government will be a central highlight of Greenfest 2009 in June. The Saab BioPower 9-3, which has gathered 3,000 kilometres to date, is also helping to spread the word on the benefits of biofuels by inclusion in TAFE presentations to mechanical students where they are learning about the flex-fuel technology and also dispelling any myths on the impact of ethanol fuel on engines. *Figures as per ECE regulations #E85 is of limited availability in Australia, visit saab.com.au for bowser locations ^According to CSR website: www.ethanolfacts.com.au/myths

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